Shafts are utilized in many applications and generally require interconnection between the shaft and a secondary component. The secondary component can be an independent component or a secondary shaft such that the interconnected shaft serves as an intermediate shaft. An end of the shaft may be interconnected with a coupling element which may in turn be interconnected with a secondary component, which may be another shaft.
In some applications, for example, a steering intermediate shaft, interconnection of the end of the shaft and the coupling element may be required in a location or under conditions of limited accessibility and/or visibility, such that visual verification of installation of the shaft end into the coupling element at the required installed depth and/or orientation may be difficult or impossible prior to and/or after inserting a retaining fastener, such as a retaining bolt, in a fastener bore and prior to and/or after engaging the inserted fastener to the coupling element. In this situation, an installer may manually manipulate the shaft relative to the coupling element after engaging the fastener to assess whether the shaft end and the coupling element are engaged; however such manipulation is subjective and may provide a false sense that an improperly inserted shaft end is properly installed.